ECOWAS Electricity Regulation
- Region
- Western Africa
- Sector
- Energy
- Scope
- TA
- Grant Amount
- EUR 1,700,000
- Status
- Under disbursement
- PFG Lead Financier
- AfD
The ITF Grant will be used by the nascent ECOWAS Regional Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERERA) to implement its first regulation activities.
The ECOWAS Energy Protocol adopted in 2003 aimed at increasing investments in the energy sector and energy trade in the West African region.
Following this objective, the West African Power Pool (WAPP), an ECOWAS specialised institution created in 2006, gathers electricity operators of the sub-region. Successfully, the WAPP is now the focal point for the ECOWAS Master Plan implementation and regional investment planning, in coordination with international donors.
The TA Grant will be made available and used by the ECOWAS Regional Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERERA) to implement its first regulation activities such as the regional benchmarking of the electricity sector, assistance to OMVS (Senegal river basin commission) and OMVG (Guinea river basin commission) to improve cross-border exchanges and support for the national regulators for setting international exchange tariffs. ERERA will also facilitate dispute settlement in trans-borders power exchange. ERERA's activities further aim at fostering the creation of a competitive regional market by enhancing regional power policy, planning and technical regulation and focus on regional integration in the energy sector. To do so, it targets a secured development of cross-borders exchanges, the promotion of competitiveness in the emerging regional electricity market, better exchange of information and creation of confidence of investors in the energy sector.
This Technical Assistance Grant for the emerging regional electricity regulatory authority is complementary to investment programs being supported by ITF Financiers through the WAPP.
Interestingly, ERERA will benefit from the analytical work being undertaken through the African Infrastructure Country Diagnostic study (AICD): for instance, AICD study on the energy sector performance will usefully inform ERERA's benchmarking activities.
